7 Places Christian and Syed didn't first meet
by Asasrandomsocks
Summary: The same fic, now better formatted and with a note. 7 au drabbles about the different ways Christian and Syed could have met.


7 Places Christian and Syed didn't first see/meet each other.

Written as part of a game with Gabriel Dreams. Who contributed stories 2, 4, and 6 and the last line of 5.

* * *

1. At a Bridal Store.

He supposed he should be grateful; two out of four wasn't bad. While Tamwar and Shabnam had been great about the entire gay issue his parents hadn't taken the news well. This made preparing for Shabnam's wedding a little bit awkward, as she insisted her entire family was there for the planning _'you're just going to have to deal with each other'_ she said, giving him a supportive smile whilst Tamwar watched his girlfriend, Afia, alarmed. Afia was displaying more than a casual interest in the wedding dresses and even though he'd only been in his mothers presence for less than an hour he knew that she was displeased Shabnam was marrying before Tamwar, seeing as he and Afia had been together longer.

Anyway, he should be grateful that Shabnam and Tamwar were supportive, though he was finding the concept a little hard to deal with at this time. The poor man they were questioning with unbridled glee was part owner of the store, Christian, tall, blond and 40, amazing smile, sharply tailored suit, unmarried father of two and gay. Apparently Christian had given him a second glance and Shabnam, who would never admit it but was more than a bit like their mother, had seized upon this and started trying to set him and Christian up. So far the defences of _'I like to keep professional relationships professional_' and '_I have a toddler and a baby'_ and _'Why doesn't Syed sort out his own love life_' had been thoroughly deconstructed and tossed aside while he had watched horrified and been beaten into agreeing with the fact that he did want kids eventually and had no problem with dating outside his religion.

By the end of the appointment Shabnam had her dresses and he had a date.

* * *

2. A Gallery.

Art thief wasn't Syed's first career choice, he wasn't supposed to steal, so he liked to think of his job as permanently borrowing art and testing gallery's security. He donated a good portion of his profits to charity anyway, so it balanced out.

Thief had always been Christian's first career choice. When he was younger he'd been deterred by the fact it was illegal and frowned upon, but times had been hard when he'd first come to London, 17 years old, flat broke and naïve. It had been theft or turning tricks. He was excellent in bed, but stealing benefited his self-esteem more. After all, who wouldn't want to be one of the most wanted thief's in the world?

Syed wasn't after the most expensive painting in the gallery today, but as he lifted the painting off it's hooks he still felt the same rush of success. He had just finished packaging up his haul when he saw a man in the corner of his eye, he froze momentarily and prepared to run, he'd never been caught before and wasn't about to get caught now. Except the man was dressed in a similar outfit to himself, and had a large rectangular package under his arm.

Huh.

* * *

3. A gay bar.

He was just with friends. He was just with friends. There wouldn't be any other reason he'd be at a gay bar obviously. The bartender placed an orange juice in front of him, decorated with an umbrella and a sparkly stirrer '_on the house handsome_' the bartender smiled and tucked a card into his pocket. Christian Clarke, Author and two numbers, one for his agent and a carefully written personal number. He looked up at Christian was watching him expectantly and fidgeting, apparently unable to keep still, '_what do you write?_' he asked because that was obviously the most important question '_gay porn'_ Christian replied, then bounced off to serve another customer with a cheerful '_Call me'_. He hadn't even told him he wasn't gay, possibly because judging by his bodies reaction to all the men, he was gay. He shouldn't come back.

He did anyway.

* * *

4. A Park.

The festival was interesting enough, but he'd have appreciated it more if there weren't so many families in the park. '_Here, Cass_' Dan leant over, he glared at him, '_Christian_' he corrected himself, '_don't look now, but the eldest son of the family with the terrifying mother, totally eyeing you up'_ he said, leaning in and waggling an eyebrow _'Danny, that's just a kid_' he said '_actually it's that kids 18__th__ birthday, I reckon you're well in' _Dan said, he looked over his shoulder and saw the kid blush and look away at the leftovers of his birthday cake, shooting nervous glances back up at him. He turned back and flipped the boy the bird. '_Kids these days_' he told Max and Dora, who took a break from kissing each other and being adorable to say '_totally_' and '_it's awful'_ .

* * *

5. In space.

He probably should have guessed it would be something like this. An art installation called Space? An empty room, painted black with no lights in it. Someone drew the curtain aside 'oh' the man said, then frowned and dropped the curtain 'I don't get it' the other man said, in the pitch black 'neither do I, I don't get most of these things though, I only came because there was a free ticket in the Guardian' he said 'me too' the other man said 'for a gay art exhibition this is really … bizarre' he added 'it is' they both headed for the curtain at the same time, he was pleased to note that the man was hot in broad daylight as well. Probably too young for him though, so he smiled at the man and wondered where to go next 'I don't suppose you'd prefer to skip all this and have coffee instead?' the man asked.

Apparently he was not too old. Score.

* * *

6. A sex toy shop.

This was probably Christian best job ever. He liked sex, he liked vending sex advice, he liked watching people squirm. This was a good job for him. He also got to eye up attractive men being fairly confident of their sexual orientation. He hadn't managed to get a date over the counter yet, but he was fairly sure the shy guy admiring the anal beads was going to be the first.

* * *

7. University.

Christian didn't go to this university, but he was visiting and assisting a few undergraduates with their research. The woes of being a mostly broke professor. He was new to teaching, London wasn't cheap and he had student debt and a mortgage to pay. Thus why he was in a not so well recognised universities library at the middle of the night, with one eye on a student who appeared to be reading three books about efficient business practice, but had actually been reading something about LGBT people, the psychology of sexuality, and was now crying. He supposed he could struggle to find the text he needed in a few minutes.


End file.
